


Janus

by exbex



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gender or Sex Swap, Nonbinary Character, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 08:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11917155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exbex/pseuds/exbex
Summary: This is in the same verse asSomething There Is That Doesn't Love a Wallbut knowledge of that fic is not necessary to read this fic. Basically, in this universe, Parse is AFAB and nonbinary, did not not play for the Q but still has the complicated past with Jack, somehow (handwaves), went on to play for Boston University and then the US Olympic team and the NWHL (Boston Pride). I am cis AFAB, so if I fucked something up, I will take constructive concrit, as I'm guessing here.





	Janus

**Author's Note:**

> This is in the same verse as [Something There Is That Doesn't Love a Wall](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10846971) but knowledge of that fic is not necessary to read this fic. Basically, in this universe, Parse is AFAB and nonbinary, did not not play for the Q but still has the complicated past with Jack, somehow (handwaves), went on to play for Boston University and then the US Olympic team and the NWHL (Boston Pride). I am cis AFAB, so if I fucked something up, I will take constructive concrit, as I'm guessing here.

_“Do you like it?”_

_Kelly blinked. Jack picked some weird times to ask random questions, like two minutes after they’d chucked their shirt across the room and straddled him._

_“This? Making out?”_

_“No. Euh. The…amount of makeup. That you’re wearing right now.” His eyes widened as if he knew how bad that sounded._

_Kelly raised an eyebrow. “I take it you don’t.”_

_“Well, it’s not really…you.”_

_Kelly didn’t know how to feel about that. They were suddenly feeling less horny than before, but what else was there to do but place a hard kiss on Jack’s lips, leave a smear of pink lipstick that made him look ridiculous, but it didn’t matter because he finally seemed to relax…._

“Kelly. Do you like it?”

Kelly blinks. The dress is simple, flattering. Comfortable; less suffocating than a suit and not so utterly feminine that it feels like wearing someone else’s skin. 

“Yeah,” Kelly stands straighter. “I do, actually.”

Jordan nods. “Thought so. You have that pleasantly surprised look going on.”

“Pleasantly surprised is what I hope Alexei feels when he sees me in this.” Kelly turns and peers into the mirror over their shoulder.

“Alexei can’t possibly be surprised by your hotness at this point. On his knees thanking every possible deity is more like it.”

Kelly rolls their eyes. “Let’s pay and get out of here.”

**

“I can do a smoky eye if you want.”

“I can’t even remember the last time I did a smoky eye, Jo.” It’s a lie, but an impulsive visit to Samwell University their senior year is best forgotten. 

“Just the basics then? Kind of a shame; it’s fun sometimes to do something completely different.”

Kelly resists the urge to roll their eyes. Jordan is the kind who can win NCAA championships on the soccer field then waltz into a club coiffed and painted the next night as if she’s simply donning a different hat. 

“Sorry some of us are boring, Sis.”

Jordan snorts. “That’s the last word I’d use to describe you.” She steps back and admires her work. “I guess I’m doing the world a favor by not covering up your hotness,” she teases.

“Thank you,” Kelly murmurs, carefully examining their face in the mirror. “Do me another solid and get my grey Chucks out of the closet?”

“You’re not really going to wear Converse. Don’t you have some ballet flats or something?”

“They pinch my feet,” Kelly shrugs. “You’re only going to find boots and sneakers,” they call out as they hear Jordan rummaging around.

“Well they match your dress at least.” Jordan emerges from the closet with shoes in hand. She cocks her head to one side. “Actually, you’re probably going to look adorable and classy. Not that anyone’s going to be looking at your feet given what that dress does to your legs and arms.”

“Kind of hoping no one looks at me anyway, Jo.”

“No one save for a certain dreamy Falconer?”

“Yeah, one of them. Alright, hair.”

Jordan sets the shoes down and walks over to stand behind Kelly. “It’s too short to really style, unless you want to curl it.”

They consider, trying to find the line between donning a slightly more formal version of one’s self and morphing into a completely different person. “No, it’s good.”

**

Alexei’s gaze is appreciative, which is nothing new. The man is so good-humored it’d be jarring to see anything otherwise, but Kelly’s stomach is still full of butterflies.

“You look dashing,” he pronounces. It’s an old-fashioned word, and Kelly can’t help but wonder if he google-searched for gender-inclusive compliments.

“You look pretty dashing yourself.”

Alexei shrugs. “Is good that pro hockey player afford custom make.”

“Well, this came off the rack.”

“Cannot tell. But you look good in anything. Best-looking person in room.”

“Kind of hoping to blend in, Alyosha.”

“Best hockey player in room too. Hard to blend in.”

“Stop.” Kelly breathes, slowly, in and out, resists the urge to lick their lips or bite down. “Let’s go, shall we?”

**

“I’m going to slip into something more comfortable. And I actually mean that. I’m not going to go put sexy underwear on.”

“Is sexy if you in it,” Alexei’s eyebrows wiggle comically.

Kelly huffs. “You have no game. None.” 

“I have game. How else I get beautiful blond?”

Kelly reaches down to untie and remove their shoes, letting their hair fall into their face, hoping to hide the smile that they can’t help. “That’s the Russian hockey player luck; managing to snag a hottie against all odds,” they retort as they’re straightening. “You know where everything is, if you want anything.”

Kelly carefully removes makeup, scrubs at their face, hesitating before wiping off the neutral lipstick, then smirks a little before removing every trace. Alexei will look better with a hickey or two at his collar bone.

They return to the living room in sweats and a Mashkov shirsey. Alexei has found some pajama bottoms that fit him, and two bottles of water. He grins.  
“Second best jersey,” he pronounces. “Almost as good as Parson 90.”

Kelly accepts the proffered bottle and settles on the sofa, slides their feet beneath his thighs. “Because I look so sexy skating on the ice?”

Alexei settles a hand on their thigh. “Look beautiful. Strong. Fast. I lose breath sometimes, you know?”

They’re about to chirp him again, but something makes them want to open up. “I feel that way. On the ice.” And then, because they’re emboldened, “What makes you feel that way? Strong, I mean. And beautiful.”

The surprise on Alexei’s face is a look Kelly’s never quite seen on him. It shifts, and he looks pleased but just a bit shy. “Hockey make me feel strong, most of the time. Beautiful…” Kelly can see the flush spread from his chest to his neck and up to his ears. “Maybe when you look at me.”

The admission, along with the thought of all the marks that Kelly could leave across the wide chest, of the way they know how to take Alexei apart and put him back together again, fills them with a sense of power. It shouldn’t be more intoxicating than the feeling that comes with watching the puck sail right past the goalie.

They take a long drink of water, then pull their feet away, shifting around so that their head lays in Alexei’s lap. “Can I trust you with the remote?”

“You trust me with anything, Solnyshko.”

Alexei picks something off of Netflix, but Kelly’s eyes drift closed and they’re dozing off before the opening credits are finished. They dream they’re flying across the ice, with Alexei close behind, looking as if there’s nothing he’d rather be doing than chasing.


End file.
